I'm back from a semi-vacation in California, where my dad had brain surgery (dad is ok and recovering nicely). I found the time away from the office a mixed blessing. Things family wise were stressful/hectic, and I had to live with the idea that things at the office might be a little helter-skelter without me, but I found the creative juices really flowing.

The lesson: there are plenty of funny things about hospitals. My stand-up act inherited some new jokes, that is for sure.

It was also very interesting to be back in the Bay Area. I was in San Francisco for the bulk of last week, and I was convinced that I would have Wi-Fi everywhere. Not so. The UCSF campus/hospital network was restricted, as were the wi-fi hotspots seemingly run by rogue departments and labs. There were no open access points in the apartment building of a family friend. I suppose that since I've been away, I expected that SF would have been blanketed in wireless access. Maybe we all (er, SF and NYC) have a lot further to go than I thought before we have 100% coverage.